The best moments from the 2016 Brit Awards

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February 25, 2016

Adele tearfully thanks her boyfriend and son – and gives a show of support to Kesha

Adele was the big winner of the night, collecting four Brits including the Global Success award. The 27-year-old gave a special mention to her boyfriend Simon Konecki who was watching on in the audience, thanking him for his support and their son, who she affectionately called Peanut.

"Thanks for my lovely son, you are the love of my life, and this is all for you," she said.

Adele also took the opportunity to give a very public show of support to Kesha when she collected her first award of the night, and finished her speech by saying: "I'd like to take this moment to publicly support Kesha."

Justin Bieber succeeded in turning the crowd into Beliebers with a live performance of his number one hits Love Yourself and Sorry. The 21-year-old was joined on guitar by Best British Male winner James Bay, and went on to win his second ever Brit award for International Male Solo Artist later in the night.

They may not have won any awards, but Little Mix still had a night to remember after wowing the crowd with an energetic rendition of their hit Black Magic while their moms watched on proudly in the audience.

Jesy, Perrie, Jade and Leigh-Anne had all walked the red carpet with their mums earlier on in the night, and promised that they would give "the performance of a lifetime" for their first ever time on the Brits stage.

While it was feared that Rihanna may cancel her Brits appearance last minute, she went on to give one of the most memorable performances of the night with a rendition of her new single Work, alongside Drake.

The pair put on a steamy display as they danced together on-stage at London's O2 arena, with a troupe of dancers in the background.

David Bowie was the subject of a special tribute at the Brits, where his touring band gathered to play a medley of the iconic musician's biggest hits before being joined onstage by Lorde, who gave a surprise performance of Life on Mars.

The moving tribute even got the seal of approval of David's son Duncan Jones, who tweeted: "Finally found the links to tonight's Brits. Just… beautiful. Thank you."

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini let her hair down at the Brits on a night out with her former X Factor co-star Nick Grimshaw. Seen without her wedding ring, Cheryl danced along to Rihanna's performance in a fun video both she and Nick shared with their fans on Instagram.

As a close friend of David Bowie, Gary Oldman was the perfect person to pay tribute to the iconic musician. Accepting the Brits Icon award on David's behalf, Gary told the audience that the Ziggy Stardust singer had faced his illness with "dignity, grace and his customary humour".

He added: "David, you were mortal but your potential was superhuman and your remarkable music is living on. We love you wand we thank you."

Louis Tomlinson has been tipped for a role on the X Factor following Nick Grimshaw's exit, and he is definitely up for the job. Speaking on the red carpet at the awards, Louis told The Sun: "Of course, it's really exciting. We've had no official conversation yet. But yeah, I mean, why wouldn't I?"